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Kiyapili Sibanda, Features Reporter
IT’S that time of the year again when people celebrate the festive season and to enhance their happy mood with family and friends some will be taking alcohol. That is not bad but as the norm has been, a lot more end up losing lives and limbs on the roads as they end up drinking and driving.
The festive season has always been characterised by end of year parties where people travel to holiday resorts, villages, visit friends and drinking spots to celebrate and enjoy themselves. It is in this light that police have been urging motorists to be responsible on the country’s roads.
One of the most effective ways to help reduce drunken driving is to target and educate those who drink alcohol to help them understand its effects.
Drunken driving is a universal challenge that results in the deaths of tens of thousands of people every year. It’s almost impossible to completely measure the cost of this loss to families, businesses and economies.
However, many never really understand this loss until they experience the death of a loved one or have a close encounter with death. It is then that they truly appreciate that the highest cost is in fact, the loss of life.
The Government, communities, businesses and families must play their part to support the use of breathalysers as a means to ensure that drivers take the right precautions before they take to the road.
Alcohol testers, commonly known as breathalysers are very crucial.
Breathalysers help road users understand whether they are safe to drive. They provide a clear indication of one’s breath alcohol content immediately.
In a sense, they empower drivers to make the right decisions when it comes to road use after drinking but their shortage stifles both statistical data collection and the legal recourse to be taken after an accident.
It is evident that driving under the influence of alcohol has caused so much pain to many families the world over due to deaths associated with the illegality.
In Zimbabwe, drunken driving has been a terrible culture almost embedded in society yet endangering the lives of those behind the wheel, passengers and other road users.
The higher the breath alcohol concentration, the higher the amount of alcohol present in the body. This means a greater effect on the driver’s driving ability and judgment and a higher risk of road crashes.
Young and old people continue to drive under the influence of alcohol knowing that it is against the country’s laws. The nation should take responsibility to help stop this problem. Politicians, policy makers, police, club owners, drivers, passengers and ordinary citizens should all work together to protect life.
Early childhood education about risk and dangers involved in drinking and driving is key in curbing accident related fatalities.
Zimpact, a non-profit trust that works to create an aversion to drunk driving has played a huge role in educating the youth about drunk driving.
Through educational programmes in schools and awareness campaigns, they are playing a part in reducing the risk. The organisation was formed to educate the youth on the risks of drunk and dangerous driving. Their main thrust is to keep Zimbabwe’s teens out of the accident statistics.
In Zimbabwe it is understood that drunken drivers who are involved in accidents are getting away with it as police have been operating without breath test kits since 2010.
Standard police breathalysers cost as little as $6 per kit on online shopping site eBay.
The tests are needed to prove the level of alcohol in a person’s system at the time of an accident and without them drivers have been successfully arguing in court that they were not drunk.
Causing an accident while driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to Section 55 of the Road Traffic Act Chapter 13:11(2) (a), should earn a public transport or heavy vehicle driver between two and 15 years in prison.
Section 55 (2) (b) provides for a fine of up to $5 000, up to 10 years imprisonment or both fine and imprisonment.
Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) statistics show that a total of 9 062 people have been killed since 2012, while 66 958 have been injured in 189 660 road traffic related accidents in the country.
TCSZ spokesperson Mr Tatenda Chinoda is on record saying that statistics for fatal accidents where drivers were suspected to be drunk were not available in the past seven years due to a shortage of breathalysers.
“Negligent drivers would not be deterred from driving under the influence of alcohol since it can’t be proved. Unfortunately it’s a perish and repent situation as we do not deal with suspicions. We don’t have breathalysers to test people for alcohol and prove that they were indeed driving under its influence,” he said.
A prosecutor at the Bulawayo magistrates’ courts said the last conviction they had of a person suspected to be driving under the influence of alcohol was in 2013.
“The past two years we haven’t dealt with any cases of people suspected to be driving under the influence of alcohol. There are no breathalysers and that’s why there are few such cases. People will be drunk but due to lack of tests they will come to court and be charged with negligent driving,” the prosecutor said.
Most traffic accident offenders get away with fines or suspended sentences as they often face the lesser charge of negligence or culpable homicide. If it can be proved that they were drunk, they can even get stiffer sentences.
Police have been finding it difficult to charge motorists with drunken driving as they do not have test kits and cannot easily facilitate blood tests to determine the amount of alcohol in a person’s system at the time of an accident.
When it comes to fatalities from drunk driving, one country that stands out from the rest is South Africa as it leads other countries with the highest percentage of road accident deaths involving alcohol. According to the World Health Organisation’s Global Status report on Road Safety for 2015, South Africa has a high number in the world for road accidents with 25,1 deaths per 100 000 people every year.
Shockingly, nearly six out of every 10 fatalities (58 percent) on South Africa’s roads can be attributed to alcohol consumption.
Research done by Arrive Alive between March 2015 and March 2016 indicates that 50 percent of the people who lose their lives on South African roads contain an alcohol concentration of about 0,5g per 100ml of blood.
According to South Africa Medical Research Council about 9 905 people die every year on South African roads due to driving under the influence of alcohol.
This festive season people have to be responsible when driving because it is not only the driver whose life is in danger but passengers and passersby as well. The introduction of more breathalysers on the country’s roads must be considered by the Government to limit the number of people dying due to driving under the influence of alcohol.
TSCZ has already started conducting road safety campaigns with the aim of reducing deaths due to accidents by 50 percent. The campaigns that would end on 5 January, 2018 are running under the theme “Save lives #SlowDown.”
Mr Chinoda said the 50 percent target was an international standard set for the “Decade of Action for Road Safety”, which was proclaimed by the United Nations (UN) in 2010 to stretch from 2011 to 2020.
derick.khumalo